News

Veterans Day events honor military for service

THANK YOU FOR YOUR SERVICE: War veterans salute during a ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown soldier under the Arc de Triomphe, during the Armistice Day ceremonies marking the end of World War I, Monday, Nov. 11, 2013 in Paris. Francois Hollande, France’s historically unpopular president, impassively ignored jeers by protesters as he laid flowers at the tomb of the unknown soldier. Photo: Associated Press/Ian Langsdon

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Across the nation on Monday, Americans honored the sacrifices and service of the armed forces.

President Barack Obama attended a ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery.

In his proclamation, Obama says the country’s obligations to those who have served “endure long after the battle ends.”

“In the life of our nation across every generation, there are those who stand apart,” he said. “They step up, they raise their hands, they take that oath, they put on the uniform and they put their lives on the line.”

The president singled out World War II Army veteran Richard Overton, who at 107 is believed to be the nation’s oldest surviving veteran. Obama and Vice President Joe Biden met with Overton, of East Austin, Texas, during breakfast.

“He was there at Pearl Harbor when the battleships were still smoldering. He was there at Okinawa. He was there at Iwo Jima where he said, ‘I only got out of there by the grace of God,'” the president said.

The District of Columbia honored two of the original Tuskegee Airmen with the Congressional Gold Medal and Washington Mayor Vincent Gray and congressional delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton will lay a wreath at the African American Civil War Memorial.

The U.S. military’s first female four-star general was a grand marshal at New York City’s Veterans Day Parade.

Gen. Ann E. Dunwoody retired last year after a 37-year Army career. Organizers of the parade up Fifth Avenue have renamed it America’s Parade.

And a former prisoner of war joined Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin to dedicate a wall commemorating Vietnam veterans.